Reference is hereby made to applicant's co-pending applications, Ser. No. 544,783 now abandoned, filed Oct. 24, 1983 and 552,825, filed Nov. 17, 1983, relating to safety chains for chain saws. These applications show, in general, chain saw constructions wherein the pivots used to articulate the chain are normally arranged in a straight line due to tension on the chain, with provision for the retraction of certain of the pivot pins and parts of the links from a normal safety position of the safety element guarding the cutting teeth, upon engagement therewith of a hard object, such as wood, and non-retraction under conditions of engagement with a softer body, such as a human being. This case is directed to the same general subject matter. The present invention differs from the above-identified inventions by providing a distinctly different placement of the safety member. In this case, the action is somewhat "heavier" in that it takes more pressure to cause the action to move from a safety position to a cutting positions, and thus is appropriate to a greater degree to heavier "professional" chain saws; whereas in the patent applications above-identified, the pressure required is less so that they are more adapted to smaller or "amateur" chain saws.